DEC removes floating camps from Adirondack lake

Albany, NY -- After ordering one man to remove his floating camp from an Adirondack lake last summer, New York conservation officials ordered three others removed, dismantled three more and removed remaining debris.

According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the floating camps were potential pollution sources and hazards to boaters on Cranberry Lake, 100 miles northeast of Syracuse. The agency said they also disturbed natural habitat and spoiled the wilderness experience for others.

"That area was where they were a problem," DEC spokeswoman Lori O'Connell said. "These were really old things that had been there for quite some time."

Another camp was recently removed from Flynn Bay near Grindstone Island in the Thousand Islands, O'Connell said. There was no identified owner, and after the DEC published a notice saying it violated state law, it was removed.

The camps were located next to the state's Cranberry Lake Wild Forest and Five Ponds Wilderness Area. The state owns both the adjacent land and the lake bottom, state administrative law judge Molly McBride noted in finding Walter French's camp in violation last year.

DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis later confirmed that French violated state conservation law and ordered him to remove the camp or face a civil penalty of $48,800.

State law prohibits erecting or maintaining buildings on state land without a DEC permit, or building or reconstructing docks or other structures in New York waters without a permit, Grannis concluded. Regulations also prohibit camping on state land within 150 feet of a waterway except at designated camping areas.

French had contended he was merely doing seasonal repairs to a floating camp that had existed on Cranberry Lake for more than 30 years. The camp sank during the winter of 2004 and French said he repaired it by pulling significant portions out of the lake and reusing parts of the roof, platform and walls in his reconstruction.

He also argued that because the floating camp was on the water, it was not on state-owned land, so state laws were not applicable. French said that the camp was covered under a "grandfather clause" that applied so long as portions of the original building were used for seasonal repairs.

The DEC said three other owners of floating camps voluntarily removed them from the lake following Grannis' ruling. Agency staff removed three others over the winter and took out the last of the debris this summer.